Apparatus for heating the air admitted to the carburetors of petrol engines



May 26, 1925.

REN

M. E. MELLG APPARATUS FOR HEATING THE AIR ADMITTED TO THE CARBURETORS 0FPETROL ENGINES Filed Jan. 2 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 MELLGREN TING THE AIRADHITTBD TO 0F PETROL ENGINES Filed Jan- 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 26,1925.

. M. E. APPARATUS FOR HBA THE CARBURETORS Ma 26, 1 92s. 1,539,134

M. E. MELLGREN APPARATUS FOR HEATING THE AIR ADMITTED TO THE CARBURETORSOF PETROL ENGINES Filed Jan. 2'7, 1 3 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 f i a 26 oeoooo JPatented May 26, 1925 UNITED' STATES MAGNUS nrnnm Mauritian-1x1, ore-orTENBoae, SWEDEN."

APPARATUS non HEATING THE nianniviiarnn r THE cAnnUnEToRs or newer.

ENGINES. a P

Application filed January 27, 1923. Serial No. 615,275. v

To all whom it may concern:

,Be it known that I, MAsNos EFRAIM MELLGREN, a subject of the King ofSweden, residing at Gottenborg, Sweden, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Heating the Air Admitted to the Carburetorsof Petrol Engines; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same.

-It is well known that the starting of motors in which is used petrol orother volatile fuel often incurs difiiculties during 'cold weather.-This drawback is especially prominent in automobile motors, airplanemotors, boat motors and the like, which have been exposed to the cold.The primary air is often so cold that so much of the sprayed petrolcannotbe evaporized as is necessary to form an ignitible orexplosivemixture, and it is thus difficult or impossible to produce the firstexplosions. The use of a lamp or open fire for heating of parts of the.motor is generally prohibited by strict regulations, and the procuringand employment of large quantities of hot water is in many cases verydifficult to obtain. r i

The invention relates to an apparatus means of which it is possible inan easy and simple manner to heat the primary air to such a temperaturethat a good evaporizing of the fuel is obtained thus effecting an easystarting of automobiles or other motors, which in this manner can bekept running until the motor is sufliciently heated. According to theinvention a special heating body is used for this purpose in connectionwith an aluminothermic heating cartridge or a similar source of heatwhich can develop heat in a closed space without access of atmosphericairand'without gaseous reaction productsiarising. g

A modification of the invention is'shown in the drawings, where Figure 1is a sectional view of'the appara- 15115 i Figure 2 a side view of thesame, Figure 3 a sectional view of a detail, Figuree diagrammaticallythe mounting of the apparatus on an automobile, Figure 5 anothermodification, Figure 6 a detail of the same seen from below, I

Figure 7 a section through the inner part of a further modification, 1

Figure8 aside view,

, ,Figure 9 a top view of the saidmo'dification,and 7 Figure 10 adetail. t H V The apparatus consists preferably of an outer casing l ofmetal, such as aluminum'or bronze, inside Of'WlllCll is positioned aheating body 2 oficopper'or some other suitable heat conducting metalthat has a high, melting point; The heating body2 has formed in its topa dish-shaped cavity 10, which is closed preferably by a cover 3 that isheld in clamping engagement with the casing by means of a curvedsupporting member 4 connected at its opposed ends to. the sides of thecasing by the threaded bolts 4. A screw-5 extendsthrougha centralopening in the ,member 4and'engages the top of the cover 3 for securingthe latter in clampingposition on the casing. The cavity 10 is adaptedto receive a heating cartridge, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.Theheatingbody 22 hasprefe'rably a downward annular flange 11 whichsurrounds and is 'spaced'away from a longitudinally extending tubularmember 12, preferably formed integral with thecasing 1. The lower end ofthetubular member t12'terminates in an exteriorly threaded nipple 13bymeansof which the casing may i be removably connected to the intakeopening for air of the carburetor," The wall of the casing 1 is-providedwith a series of lateral openings 14, through which air may be admittedinto the interior of the casing. The air on its way through the casingsweeps over the surface of the part 11 and takes the path as indicatedby the arrows in Figure 1,'finally being conducted by the nipple 13 tothe carburetor. The sectional area for the air taken in through theapparatus is relatively large, which is of importance partly for theachievement of a suflicien-t' heating of the air during its passingthrough the apparatus and partly in order to reduce as much as possiblethe resistance'against the motion of the air through the apparatus,,it:being well known that it is injurious to the goodeffect ofa'carburetor that the admission of primary air is throttled more thanabsolutely necessary. a On the cover 3 is mounted a stud 7, Figure 3,into which-can be inserted ahandle' 9 which is retained by a springactuated hook 8 as indicated and serves for the introduction of meansfor igniting the cartridge.

1 When the-apparatus is to be used the cover aligns with the opening inthe stud 7 on the cover 3 so as to permit the insertion of any suitableigniting means for ignitingthe car tridge, such as an ignited vesuvian.The cartridge upon being ignited quickly reacts and in a short timeheats the body 2 to a temperature, the height of which is contingent ontheheat capacity of the body and theianiount of heat developed by thecart-ridge. By the suitable selection and carrying-ou't of theseconditions, it is possible to obtaint-he desired heat or the body 2,which, however, is not sufficiently great to ignite theniiivtuije of airand petrol vapor if the sameshould fire'back through the carbnre'tcr'.

Figure tsh'ow's diagrammatically a method of mounting the apparatus onan automobile". As it is generally prohibited through police regulationsto have devices in which is used open fire arranged within themotor-cover, leading forward is mounted on the carburetor, and theapparatus 1 is connected with the same in nest of the radiator 16." Theair intake of the carburetor 17 is connected by a pipe 18 in knownmanner with a perforated sleeve 19 siirrounding the eXhaust-pipeQO, andbetween the pipes 15 and 18 is placed a three-way cock 21 by means ofwhich the stud of the carburetor fortaking in air can be connectedeither with the pipe 15 or with the-pipe 18.

When the motor is to be started in cold weather, the th-ree way cock isturned in such a manner that the pipe 15 is connected with theapparatus, and a heating cartridge is placed and ignited in thecasing 1. In the course of some few seconds the motor can easily bestarted, and when the exhaust pipe 20 has become heated, the three-waycook 21 is turned in such a manner that the carburetor is new,;m1 ing inair through the sleeve 19 and the pipe 18. If the motor is desired todevelop higher power, *the'threecock-21 can be constructed in such amanner that it can be placed in an intermedia te position in which thecarburetor takes in air from the-fpipe 15 well as froin the pipe 18,thereby reducingthe temperature of the primary air, by mixing the samewith fresh cold air, since the apparatus in the meantime has become socool that theair taken in through the 15 is now also lowered intemperature. It is well known that in order not to reduce the amount ofcombustible mixture admitted per cycle at fu'llload of the motor theprimary air of the carburetor "should not be heated more than absolutelynecessary. The mounting of-th'e threc-way-cock and the pipe 15 is thusalso advantageous when driving in hot weather.

Figure 5 shows a modification of the ap paratus which is meant for beinginserted in the intake pipe for air of the carburetor.

The casing 1 has here a couple of studs 23 placed opposite toone anotherin which the ends of the intake pipe 2 1 are secured, and the copperbody 11 carries a number of ribs 22 shown in Figure 6' which can beheated andimpart heat to the air current sweeping over the same.

The modification shcwnin Figures 7 to 9 is also meant for being insertedin the air intake piping but di-ife'rs from that shown in Figures 4-. to'6 in that the inner body 2 with covers and clamp 1 are removable as aunit. The body 11 is preferably made of copper and has circumferentialribs 22, the lower ones of which are provided with apertures 27 in orderto permit the air in addition to passing throughthe casing 1 andsweeping alon the body 2 to also pass under the bottom of the same. Thebody 2 is preferably inserted in the casing 1, in the main ner as shownin Figure 8, and fastened in the same by means of spring leavesQ's-"pivoted at 26, the ends of the studs 25 servingfor turning the saidspring'leaves by hand and are adapted tosnap into an annular groove 26in the cover 3.

This apparatus is used in the following manner.

When the motor is to be started in cold weather the spring leaves 24 areturned to the sides as indicated in dotted lines in the right side ofFigure 9, and the parts shown in Figure 7 are removed from the motor.Aheat'ing' cartridge is introdaced in the cavity 10,'the cover 3 is thenreplaced and the cartridge is brought to reaction or ignited while theparts are removed from the engine so that any danger of setting thepetrol on fire is avoided. The device is now replaced in the housing 1as shown in Figure 8' and after one or two minutes the motor can easilybe started.

During the warm weather or when no hot air is needed the parts shown inFigure 7 can be removed and substituted by a cover 3 which can beperforated, if desired, as shown in Figure 10.

Having thus fully described my invention I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent: v

1. A heater of the class described having in combination a casing, aheating body mounted in said casing and having a cavity therein, aheating cartridge adapted to fit in said cavity, a closurefor saidcavity detachably connected to said casing, said closure having anopening therein, a handle having a longitudinal bore in alignment Withsaid opening, and means for detachably connecting said handle to theclosure. 2. A heater of the class described having in combination acasing, a heating body mounted in said casing, and havinga cavity formedin the outer end thereof a heating cartridge adapted to fitin saidcavity, a closure for said cavity mounted on said casing, a curvedsupporting member pivotally connected to the sides of said casing andhaving a central opening therethrough, said casing having a series ofports in the wall thereof for conducting air to said heating body, and abolt'threaded in said opening and adapted to engage said closure fordetachably securing the latter to the casing.

3. A heater of the class described having in combination a casingprovided with a longitudinally extending central tube, a heating bodymounted in said casing and having a depending annular flange encirclingsaid tube, said body having a cavity in the top thereof, a heatingcartridge adapted to fit in said cavity, a closure for said cavity, andmeans connected to said casing for detachably securing the closure inposition.

4. An apparatus to the carburetor of an internal combustion enginehaving in combination a casing, a

heating body mounted in said casing and having a cavity therein, aheating cartridge in said cavity, means detachably connected to saidcasing for closing said cavity, and means for connecting the interior ofthe casing with the air intake of a carburetor.

5. An apparatus for heating air admitted to the carburetor of aninternal combustion engine having in combination a casing, a heatingbody mounted in said casing and having a cavity therein, a heatingcartridge in said cavity, means detachably connected to said casing forclosing said cavity, said cartridge being adapted to react in a closedspace and form non-gaseous reaction products, a cover detachablyconnected to said casing for closing said cavity, and means connectingthe casing with the air intake of the carburetor.

6. An a paratus for heating air admitted to the car uretor of aninternal combustion engine having in combination a casing, a

for heating air admitted heating body mounted in said casing and havinga cavity therein, a heating cartridge in said cavity, means detachablyconnected to said casing for closing said cavity, and means forconnecting the interior of the casing with the air intake of thecarburetor,

the air intake of the carburetor, a heating 7 body having a cavity andcomposed of metal having a high conductivity for heat and acomparatively high melting point, a heating cartridge fitted in saidcavity and adapted when ignited to heat said body, a cover, means fordetachably securing the cover in position, the said body, cover, andsecuring means being adapted to be removed from the casing as a unit,and means for removably securing the said unit to the casing; V

8. An apparatus for heating air admitted to the carburetor of aninternal combustion engine comprising a casing connected with the airintake of the carburetor, a heating body having a cavity and composed ofmetal having a high conductivity for heat and a comparatively highmelting point, a heating cartridge fitted in said cavity and adaptedwhen ignited to heat said body, a cover,.means for detachably securingthe cover in position, the said body,

cover and securing means being adapted to be removed from the casing asa unit, said cover having an annular groove therein, and yieldable meanson said casing and engaging said grooves for detachably securing thesaid unit in the casing.

In testimony whereof I have atfixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses. 1

MAGNUS EFRAIM MELLGREN. WVitnesses:

ROBERT ANnnRssoN, ALBERT SvnNssoN.

